The Panther Hollow neighborhood of Oakland first began to be settled
in the late 1880s by Italian immigrants who were humble, honest, and
hard-working peasants. They came mainly from two very small Italian towns,
Gamberale and Pizzoferrato in the mountains just east of Rome.

These immigrants were labor class American citizens: steelworkers, construction
workers, carpenters and brick layers – workers whose children went
on to become attorneys, judges, community leaders, physicians, teachers
and university professors.

My grandmother arrived in Panther Hollow in 1896 and my grandfather
in 1900. My father has lived in Oakland for the entirety of his 95 years.

Two decades after the Italian immigrant settlement of Panther Hollow,
the University of Pittsburgh, in June 1909, started its move in earnest
from its North Side location to Oakland. Prior to the University of Pittsburgh’s
arrival, numerous homes were built in Panther Hollow and the community
was quickly moving toward becoming self-sustaining.

When the Cathedral of Learning was being constructed in 1926, many of
Oakland’s immigrants contributed to its funding. They, as well
as other early settlers of Oakland, welcomed the University as one would
welcome a guest to his or her home. No one realized that in the next
eight decades, the guest would attempt to become a master.

There are numerous defining moments in the history of the University’s
presence in Oakland, but I will mention only a few. In the late 1950s,
Chancellor Edward Litchfield stated that his administration was faced
with two alternatives – to expand or not to expand. The choice
was made to expand. Expansion in and of itself is not bad if it is guided
by the principle that the means to an end is more important than the
end itself. However, the next half century showed that the expansion
was based mainly upon greed and avarice, leading to the detriment of
the residential community. Since Chancellor Litchfield’s fateful
decision, Pitt and UPMC have acquired approximately 100 buildings in
Oakland, an astonishing fact. Meanwhile, the descendants of preuniversity
settlers and long-time residents struggle to maintain their identity
and existence.

Another defining moment came a decade later. As described in a March
16, 2000 article in the University Times: “In 1967, to expedite
Pitt’s expansion, the General State Authority (GSA) stepped in
and, invoking eminent domain, condemned all the buildings in the two-block
area south of Forbes Avenue between Oakland Avenue and South Bouquet
Street, and sent eviction notices to tenants and business owners there,
many of whom were long-term occupants. The GSA also declared that only
academic buildings could be developed in the two-block area, a position
that became important later.”

Across the street from this eminent domain area was Forbes Field, which
was built in 1909 and became a second job and second home for numerous
Oakland men and women. Pitt purchased Forbes Field in 1958 for $2 million,
and in 1971 demolished it for personal use.

An additional defining moment leading to the detriment of the Oakland
community occurred when Pitt and UPMC took part in a bidding war for
the purchase of the Syria Mosque, an entertainment venue that was beloved
by the residents of Oakland and others throughout Pittsburgh. UPMC won
the bidding and demolished the building in 1991. Today, that venue which
was once a source of happiness and joy is now a parking lot available
solely to UPMC leaseholders.

The most recent defining moment, and one that is very symbolic of the
University’s lack of caring for a community, is the University’s
use of Mazeroski Field that overlooks the community of Panther Hollow.
In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s it was a field of dreams for little league
ballplayers in the neighborhood, some of whom aspired to one day play
in the adjacent big league Forbes Field. But for the last two decades,
for one day, it has become a field of danger and the playground for the
University of Pittsburgh’s Homecoming Week fireworks display. The
University has blatantly ignored the pleas to have this private party
function moved to a venue outside of Oakland for the safety of residents
and hospital patients.

Pitt’s administration has continuously ignored the concerns of
residents of Oakland since Edward Litchfield’s fateful decision
to pursue unending expansion in our community. Many of these concerns
regard University related issues in our community. These include but
are not limited to: student binge drinking, littering on public and private
properties, noise and debris from fireworks, never ending expansion,
lack of University transparency, weak faculty support for the community,
and inadequate funding by the University to our residential community.
The University’s deliberate neglect of the needs of our community
has severely tarnished the reputation of a University that has grown
to become one of the leading research institutions in the country.

I would like to focus on one specific issue. Oakland residents have
complained for decades of the filthy environmental conditions brought
on primarily by the ever-increasing number of students who do not care
about our community. We have asked Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg for
funding of an environmental program known as SOUL (South Oakland Urban
Litter) which would effectively put an end to this litter problem. Even
though the cost amounts to only four dollars of a student’s tuition
fee, his administration has refused our funding request, and we were
told to start a Neighborhood Improvement District if we want to have
a cleaner neighborhood.

The descendants of the preuniversity settlers of Panther Hollow share
a kinship with other descendants of preuniversity settlers of Oakland.
On behalf of descendants of all preuniversity settlers of Oakland who
share our values and support the SOUL program, we speak as one voice
when we say:

We claim and demand our right to live in a clean and healthy environment
based on the virtue of that right and the authority that is inherent
within us. We speak with integrity and empowerment, and not entitlement,
when we demand justice to right the wrong that has been imposed upon
us by the University’s presence in our community. We will not
allow outsiders in the University to dictate our future and to impose
their will upon us. We claim and demand funding for the SOUL program.

Also, we are once again letting Pitt administrators know that they will
never take away our dignity, diminish our intensity, shackle our freedom,
or break our spirit. And they will never silence the voices of the descendants
of the preuniversity settlers and their supporters who seek social justice.

Carlino Giampolo

Addendum - When the General State Authority invoked eminent domain on
South Bouquet Street, there were approximately 210 long-time residents
and a dozen students living there. Today, there are two long-time residents
and over 700 students on that street.

(Note: Our grassroots movement began in March 2007. Throughout the
website, reference is made to long-time residents of the Oakland community.
The descendants of preuniversity settlers who still reside in Oakland
are implicitly included where those references are made.)